Services
Turnaround
Turnaround assignments require an understanding of the business to bring clarity to the issues being faced.
The business then needs to evaluate the challenges, devising potential solutions and scenarios to be modelled. Financial forecasts are generated to assist stakeholders in understanding the most suitable options for taking the business forward.
Turnaround plans involve a combination of operational process reviews, system evaluations and improvements, focus on the sales process and cost reduction plans with the aim to improve overall efficiency and profitability of the business.
Restructuring
Providing advice to Stakeholders, Boards and Financial Lenders in challenging or distressed situations.
To assist turnaround plans, businesses may need to restructure their financial affairs to ensure the operational turnaround plan has the necessary funding and therefore time to be implemented.
Businesses often require external support, or an independent lead, to assist in restructuring their activities. This includes renegotiation of banking facilities, M&A advisory and investigation services to identify the appropriate solutions to take the business forward.
Interim Management
Appointment to the Board or working with Senior Management Teams to provide a catalyst to assist and/or drive the turnaround process.
Often a hands on approach is required to assist an incumbent management team to drive a turnaround process from the inside.
The provision of an external catalyst is often required to assist idea generation, work with the existing management team and maximising their skills base to make the necessary changes for a successful business turnaround.
Stakeholder Engagement
Organisations need to regularly interact with their key stakeholder groups to explain strategic plans, operational performance and obtain engagement, buy in and support at an early stage and as plans develop.
It is becoming an important element of a business's communications strategy to regularly interact with stakeholders, especially in times of potential uncertainty or crisis situation, as well as aiding ability to exploit strategic opportunities.
In facilitating stakeholder discussions it is important to:
- Know the businesses wider stakeholders and their level of influence on your organisation.
- Appreciate their objectives and know what they don’t want.
- Recognise what drives and motivates stakeholder decision-making.
- Understand the differences in style and know how to adapt to them.
- Skilfully manage varying agendas, whilst maintaining a coherent stakeholder group.
Cashflow & Working Capital Improvement
When organisations face periods of financial challenge cash management is introduced. This can rapidly assess its short term cash requirements, help the business understand pinch points and assess the options available to ensure the most appropriate actions and funding structure is in place.
By introducing a 13 week rolling cashflow forecast the business will engender a “focus on cash” from all parts of the business. This can optimise cash generation via debtor collection and working capital maximisation from inventory management, improving sales order to cash cycles and supplier management.
Often a significant source of capital is already within a business's own balance sheet. By managing internal resources, time can be made to address the longer term funding structure required via external debt and/or equity funding to secure the future of the business.
Due Diligence
Acquiring a new business can be an integral element of a business growth strategy. Yet, some organisations don’t have the managerial time or skills base to perform the detailed financial and operational due diligence required.
An independent operational and financial due diligence process will augment other forensic due diligence carried out by the business and potentially minimise the risk of missing critical factors.
Due diligence requires:
- Management team evaluation.
- Historical and current trading performance.
- Customer and market environment analysis.
- Product and service delivery/capability.
- Assessing potential business synergies.
- Understanding long term agreements, customer/supplier/property and utility supply contracts etc.
